Defence secretary warns this is ‘the critical year’ for Ukraine – as £450m in funding allocated
The defence secretary has said that 2025 is “the critical year” for Ukraine as he confirmed £450m in funding for a military support package.
The funding includes £350m from this year’s previously announced pot of £4.5bn in financial support, while the rest of the cash is being provided by Norway via the UK-led International Fund for Ukraine.
The money will fund repairs to and maintenance of UK-provided materials and equipment already given to Ukraine, as well as radar systems, anti-tank mines and hundreds of thousands of drones.
Follow the latest on the war in Ukraine here
It was announced on Friday by Defence Secretary John Healey, who is in Brussels chairing a meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group alongside his German counterpart Boris Pistorius.
The group is an alliance of about 50 countries – all 32 NATO member states, including the US, and about 20 other nations – that has been supporting Ukraine by sending military equipment there since April 2022, a few weeks after Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
John Healey and Germany’s defence minister Boris Pistorius take part in the Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting
Speaking at the start of the meeting, Mr Healey warned: “2025 is the critical year for the war in Ukraine, and this is the critical moment.
“A moment for our defence industries to step up, and they are; a moment for our militaries to step up, and they are; a moment for our governments to step up, and they are.
“Together, we are sending a signal to Russia and we are saying to Ukraine that we stand with you in the fight and we will stand with you in the peace.”
At a news conference following the talks, Mr Healey told journalists that Ukraine’s allies have agreed to provide a “record boost” €21bn (£18.2bn) in total of military support for Kyiv.
The German defence minister confirmed that US secretary of defence, Pete Hegseth, attended virtually, while special envoy Steve Witkoff travelled to Moscow, which Mr Pistorius insisted was not a matter of “priorities”, but of “schedules”.
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Healey announces funding for Ukraine
‘Coalition of the willing’ planning continues
The meeting comes one day after the UK defence secretary and his French counterpart Sebastien Lecornu led 30 defence ministers from the “coalition of the willing” in Brussels.
The group, which does not include the US, discussed operational plans on Thursday afternoon for a multinational peacekeeping force in Ukraine.
Rustem Umerov, Tony Radakin, John Healey and Sebastien Lecornu during the Coalition of the Willing meeting in Brussels.
Pic: Reuters
It looked at each nation’s capabilities and how they could be best used to support Ukraine’s long-term defence and security as part of what the Ministry of Defence called a “reassurance force”.
UK and French military chiefs discussed planning with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his military chiefs in Kyiv last weekend.
Peace negotiations are ongoing between the US and Russia, however, US officials appear to be growing increasingly impatient with the lack of progress after Donald Trump publicly suggested a month ago that Vladimir Putin wants to end the war.
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Children killed in Russian missile strike
Last Tuesday, the Kremlin described the latest US peace proposal as unacceptable in its current form because it does not solve the “root causes” of the conflict.
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Mr Putin wants to dismantle Ukraine as an independent, functioning state and has demanded Kyiv recognise Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and other partly occupied areas and pull its forces out, as well as a pledge for Ukraine to never join NATO and to demilitarise.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said on Friday that Mr Trump is not “going to fall into the trap of endless negotiations” with Moscow.
Despite the apparent impasse in talks, the coalition of the willing is continuing with its plans for when peace is agreed.
Labour’s largest union donor, Unite, has voted to suspend Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner over her role in the Birmingham bin strike row.
Members of the trade union, one of the UK’s largest, also “overwhelmingly” voted to “re-examine its relationship” with Labour over the issue.
They said Ms Rayner, who is also housing, communities and local government secretary, Birmingham Council’s leader, John Cotton, and other Labour councillors had been suspended for “bringing the union into disrepute”.
There was confusion over Ms Rayner’s membership of Unite, with her office having said she was no longer a member and resigned months ago and therefore could not be suspended.
But Unite said she was registered as a member. Parliament’s latest register of interests had her down as a member in May.
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The union said an emergency motion was put to members at its policy conference in Brighton on Friday.
Unite is one of the Labour Party’s largest union donors, donating £414,610 in the first quarter of 2025 – the highest amount in that period by a union, company or individual.
The union condemned Birmingham’s Labour council and the government for “attacking the bin workers”.
Mountains of rubbish have been piling up in the city since January after workers first went on strike over changes to their pay, with all-out strike action starting in March. An agreement has still not been made.
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Rat catcher tackling Birmingham’s bins problem
Ms Rayner and the councillors had their membership suspended for “effectively firing and rehiring the workers, who are striking over pay cuts of up to £8,000”, the union added.
‘Missing in action’
General secretary Sharon Graham told Sky News on Saturday morning: “Angela Rayner, who has the power to solve this dispute, has been missing in action, has not been involved, is refusing to come to the table.”
She had earlier said: “Unite is crystal clear, it will call out bad employers regardless of the colour of their rosette.
“Angela Rayner has had every opportunity to intervene and resolve this dispute but has instead backed a rogue council that has peddled lies and smeared its workers fighting huge pay cuts.
“The disgraceful actions of the government and a so-called Labour council, is essentially fire and rehire and makes a joke of the Employment Relations Act promises.
“People up and down the country are asking whose side is the Labour government on and coming up with the answer not workers.”
Piles of rubbish built up around Birmingham because of the strike over pay
Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said the government’s “priority is and always has been the residents of Birmingham”.
He said the decision by Unite workers to go on strike had “caused disruption” to the city.
“We’ve worked to clean up streets and remain in close contact with the council […] as we support its recovery,” he added.
A total of 800 Unite delegates voted on the motion.
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